About me

I fully qualified as a counsellor in 2000, following University where I graduated with a Bsc(Hons) in Psychology and Social Work in 1998. I offer:

Confidential Counselling

Advocacy

Health and Social Care Training

It is my hope that you will feel very supported by me in a homely environment and treated with professionalism gained from experience. The counselling I provide is direct and very open, appreciating your time and ability to process the hourly sessions. I will maintain a caring approach while assisting you to challenge areas of difficulty as you are able, and keep you well informed of theory to aid understanding and/or to utilise if appropriate to assist your progress.

Within the counselling sessions you can expect me to help you discuss the issues that most trouble:

I will listen and use my knowledge and experience to enable exploration (e.g. how you are affected, any barriers, what you may or may not be aware of).

I will share my thoughts of what I hear with you for your evaluation. If appropriate I may offer alternative methods of expression such as art, music etc, with the intension of helping you to communicate what you may find difficult.

My approach is based on the experience of people often never having spoken about their issues and some people not having someone to share their thoughts and feelings with; as family and friends are not always appropriate.

Sometimes the issues are about confidence and self-esteem, e.g. who you are on the outside to others and wanting to be the different person you feel inside.

Making sense of some of these issues, by gently placing them in front of us in the sessions, examining them as to their meaning for you; will facilitate you to move forward and explore your life options for example.

Having become a person with disability myself from being able bodied (I have Muscular Dystrophy) has I feel assisted my practice with an enhanced ability to empathise regards issues faced by the family, loved ones as well as the person with the disability. The changes can be very dramatic (physically, psychologically, emotionally and socially) as well as traumatic, relationships can suffer; anger, guilt and helplessness are familiar company amongst other feelings.

I very much appreciate how difficult it can be to take the first step towards counselling. However, I can honestly say through some personal experience that, with assistance doors that may seem locked can be opened and reveal positive and fulfilling life opportunities.

My professional experience includes working within Nursing/Residential Care where I provided counselling for adults with disability, terminal illness and mental health. The service I provided extended to counselling family, loved ones of those who were receiving care and staff working in the homes. A large part of my work included counselling and developing rehabilitation for stroke and acquired brain injury survivors living in the community and within nursing/care.

There are many issues that confronted the people I worked with which ranged from the complexities of:

Becoming disabled,

Being in care,

Being a parent or sibling of someone with health issues

Feelings of being overwhelmed,

Guilt and fear,

Career choices,

Aspirations,

Confidence and self-esteem,

Wanting to move on to a new relationship.

I have significant counselling experience of working with survivors of abuse (sexual, physical, psychological and emotional). My clients include men and women aged 18 years upwards. This has been a very rewarding learning experience for me, which indeed has opened my understanding into long-term and debilitating effects of trauma experienced by clients prior to counselling. In order to assist you I can offer a 12 step process to dealing with your issues. This is based on for e.g. a steady discussion about who you are, what surrounds you, your thoughts and feelings, what you carry, through to closure. Here, again if appropriate, the use of creativity will be offered to assist you to safely explore any issues at a pace that suits you. This approach helps you maintain control, unlocks description that is difficult to communicate and continues to promote progress with dignity and structure.

Familiar phrases used by clients:

I hate myself

Why does this always happen to me?

I’m her mum, I want to help her, but I’m helpless

Who will want me now?

I’m so embarrassed

He’s not the person I met

I want a different job, but I think I’m not good enough.

I never signed up for a dependent

Why don’t they take me seriously?

She keeps pushing me away, when all I want to do is get close.

I’m able to help myself, but they just keep taking over

I can’t get him out of my mind, I’m scared I’ll not be a good parent now

My professional experience includes operational management of residential health and social care services for children and adults with complex needs across the UK, and at a personal level I have worked at Olympic level in sports development. This experience assists me to work with people dealing with issues related to their career and aspirations. In these areas you would expect me to assist you in:

Personal and professional development.

Goal setting.

Evaluation.

Here we would identify and discuss your current experience, knowledge and skills in relation to your issue. There are often areas we don’t see in ourselves, negative and positive. We would break these down and refocus on areas of most value for example, evaluate and plan; I may provide tools to assist your progression.

Advocacy:

The advocacy service I provide is based on my professional experience and the fact that when people enter into residential care and are private payers, they do not receive the support of the Local Authority in the provision of Care Co-ordinators etc. My service meets these needs. As a qualified Social Worker I seek to ensure that people receive the correct care they are entitled to and are indeed paying for; at the correct National Minimum Standard and CQC expectation. Examples of my service:

Assessing the Plan of Care.

Attending Care Reviews and representing the service user and/or guardians.

Maintaining action plans to support care practice which meet the service user’s needs.

Liasing with Community Support teams (e.g. Stroke, SALT, and Mental Health Teams).

This service allows the service user and family to develop peace of mind. It can be very difficult to present your needs if you are unsure of what you are entitled to, and at times there can be a reluctance and indeed difficulty to assert your wishes with the professionals in the homes, GP’s and Management etc.

Health and Social Care Training

The training list I provide is continually growing and includes for example:

A Person Approach to Care,

Working with Challenging Behaviour,

Communication,

Confidentiality,

Acquired Brain Injury

Creative Interventions.

The training I provide is able to focus on Management, Nursing and Care staff at all levels of practice. It reflects and underpins NVQ knowledge and skills. I feel it also explores many of the issues faced in care practice from the service user’s point of view and that of the provider. The training maybe classed as unique in that I am disabled and have held a high level managerial post for a care provider; so I feel I am able to present a realistic approach based on seeking excellence in Care Standards. My training has received some very good feedback from staff attending and I can provide contact details for a quality reference. I’m very happy to say one of my current clients includes one of the largest nursing/care providers in the UK.

My Approach:

An Integrative Approach, in that I have been educated over a significant number of years in the main areas of psychology;

I use the Egan 3 stage model to provide a counselling structure

I would class myself as Person Centred.

I utilise Cognitive and Behavioural theory, Gestalt and Psychodynamics.

I have a huge regard for Transaction Analysis which I have found highly useful to apply and share with clients.

Creativity has always been a friend to me throughout my career and where appropriate, is something I will offer in the provision of my service.

I don’t want to become too technical in the description of my approach etc, suffice to say that I am very open with my clients by explaining any theory and my approach to aid understanding. The assessment session is always a great opportunity to further discuss my approach, briefly outline the presenting difficulty, explore of the appropriateness of my service, set the parameters for personal comfort and agree our next steps for counselling.

Please feel free to contact me; I welcome the opportunity to discuss any areas of my service.